New page of history

26 April 2008 — 10:00am

The Clunes city fathers hope books will prove as magnetic as the gold that built the town, writes Sandy Guy.

Stepping into the main street of Clunes is like walking onto a film set. The producers of films including Mad Max and Ned Kelly must have thought they'd struck gold when they drove into the historic town, 36 kilometres north of Ballarat.

Clunes has more than 50 original 19th-century buildings, elegant relics of more prosperous times, with streetscapes that appear to have been frozen in time.

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With more than 6000 residents during its halcyon gold rush days in the 1860s, today Clunes is a quiet village that is home to about 900.

But its old streets were again a hive activity in May last year, when thousands of book lovers arrived to nab a bargain at the town's inaugural Back to Booktown sale of old and new books.

In an effort to put Clunes back on the map, a group of enthusiastic locals, headed by local writer Tess Brady, dreamed up the idea of building its reputation as a bookselling town, an Australian version of Britain's famous Hay-on-Wye, says Tim Hayes, Clunes councillor and mayor of Hepburn Shire.

"Australia has a few official book trails but no town entirely devoted to books. We think Clunes fits the bill.

"There are a number of magnificent public and private buildings that are empty or rarely used, and rent and real estate is not expensive for prospective booksellers."

Locals were expecting about 1500 people to attend the first Back to Booktown. "We were astonished when more than 6000 showed up," says Hayes.

This year's two-day event on Saturday, May 3, and Sunday, May 4, is expected to attract up to 10,000 book lovers, who will fossick for hidden treasures such as limited-edition, rare and antiquarian tomes at the stalls of more than 50 book traders from around the country.

Back to Booktown will feature a program of writers including John Marsden, Alexis Wright, Anthony Lawrence and Melissa Lucashenko, as well as a "nothing over $5" book sale, children's storytelling, music, food and local wines.

History

Clunes wasn't always a hidden hamlet. In July 1851, when the Geelong Advertiser published reports that an Irish prospector, James Esmond, had mined some gold in the area, the valley became Victoria's most important site literally overnight.

Esmond's find sparked the gold rush in Ballarat, Castlemaine and Bendigo. It was a rush that was to change the face of Australia, as tens of thousands of people flushed with gold fever from some 22 countries flocked to the Victorian goldfields, which were to prove extraordinarily rich.

The huge Port Phillip and Colonial Gold Mining Company, a deep lead quartz mine established in 1857, was built on the site of the first gold strike in Clunes, and became one of Victoria's richest gold mines. When mining ceased in the mid 1890s, about 50 metric tonnes of gold had been extracted from the reefs around Clunes.

During its heyday in the 1860s, Fraser Street bustled with more than 60 businesses and 23 hotels.

Clunes also had eight schools, five imposing churches, a gas works, and seven quartz mines.

The fortunes made on gold are reflected in the architecture you see today; the impressive circa 1872 town hall, an Italianate post office (now a second-hand bookshop), library and courthouse.

By the 1960s and '70s, Clunes lay largely forgotten in its out-of-the-way valley, many of its shops closed for decades, its few industries in decline or already extinct. But the town's relative obscurity meant it escaped the fate of many larger towns as countless colonial buildings were razed during the period when Whelan the Wrecker was king.

Attractions

Soak up the history of Fraser Street, the town's main thoroughfare, and spot locations used in Max Max and Ned Kelly.

The Clunes Bottle Museum has more than 6000 rare and unusual bottles. An 1870s schoolhouse, the museum houses not only the museum but the visitor information centre, where you can pick up brochures for walking tours of the town. Open Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm, at 70 Bailey Street, Clunes, phone 5345 3896.

View the remains of the Port Phillip Mine, which covers hilly slopes on the northern edge of town. A marker indicates the first gold strike in Victoria.

Delve into history at the Clunes Museum, in a grand 1860s former warehouse, which has mining and agriculture displays and all sorts of information about the town's fascinating past. Open weekends and public and school holidays, admission $3, children under 15 free (36 Fraser Street, Clunes, phone 5345 3592).

Where to stay

* The Duke's B&B: Formerly the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, Duke's has five comfortable rooms with en suites and a one-bedroom self-contained cottage with spa. From $90 a double including breakfast, packages available (19 Fraser Street, Clunes, phone 5345 3267, www.ballarat.com/dukes).

* Tinakori Animal Farm: Treat the children to a farmstay holiday where they can get close to native wildlife and farm animals including kangaroos, wallabies, emus, possums, deer and lambs. Self-contained accommodation from $110 a family a night, day visit $3 a person (150 Kierces Road, Clunes, phone 5345 3060, www.ballarat.com/tinakori).

* Robbie G's Cafe and Wine Bar: Everything is made on-site , includ-ing gourmet pies in varieties such as smoked salmon and peppered camembert. Vegie dishes include eggplant timbale and creamy cara-mel nut tarts. The menu changes constantly. Open Thursday to Sunday for lunch and dinner on Fridays, Robbie G's is licensed and has local wines (33 Fraser Street, Clunes, phone 5345 4004).

* Widow Twankey's Confectionery Empor-ium: A sweet-tooth's paradise, Widow Twan-key's is filled with all sorts of sugary delights from bygone days including humbugs, gobstop-pers, sherbet lemons and bullseyes, as well as top coffee, light meals and home-made cakes (50 Fraser Street, Clunes, phone 5345 3426, www.widowtwankeys.com.au).

Eateries

The 1870s Club Hotel in Fraser Street is due to reopen before Back to Booktown and is rumoured to include upmarket dining and a micro-brewery. Nearby dining favourites include the Big Fig and London House Cafe in Talbot, the American Hotel in Creswick, and the National Hotel in Clunes, which has tradititonal pub fare.

Take a drive

* Mount Beckworth State Park: The Mount Beckworth State Park, seven kilometres west of Clunes, is ideal for a spot of bushwalking, rock-climbing and bird-watching. Hike the network of trails in the area that was once the hideout of the bushranger Captain Moonlight, or trek to the top of Mount Beckworth, where a lone pine crowns a granite outcrop, for magnificent views of the surrounding countryside.

* Andersons Mill, Smeaton: Pack a picnic and head to the circa 1861 Andersons Mill, beside a bubbling brook in Smeaton, on the Creswick-Newstead Road. The five-storey bluestone mill is open on first Sunday of the month, from noon to 4pm (entry and guide by donation). The grounds can be visited at any time. Contact Parks Victoria on 131 963, www.parkweb.vic.gov.au.

Clunes is 148 kilometres, about 1 1/2 hours north-west of Melbourne, on the Western Highway.

More information

For further information on Clunes and about Back to Booktown see www.clunes.org.

LOCAL'S VIEW

Hepburn Shire mayor Tim Hayes opted for a treechange from inner-city Melbourne to the peace and quiet of Clunes 10 years ago, when he and partner Michael Waugh bought the highly regarded guest house Keebles of Clunes. "I'd always dreamt of running a B&B, and Keebles was one of the best around," says Hughes, who previously lived and worked in Richmond.

"The sheer uniqueness of Clunes attracted us to the town; its superb streetscapes and graceful public buildings and churches - it evokes a real sense of the gold rush period," says Hughes, who sold Keebles last year (it's now a private home) after nine years of pampering guests, and opened the Widow Twankey's Confectionary Emporium at what locals refer to as the "Paris End" of Fraser Street.

"More than one-third of the old shops where closed, and had been for years, when we moved here - Clunes resembled a ghost town - but we're now seeing a real renaissance - a campus of Wesley College, new businesses, Back to Booktown, a popular market on the second Sunday of the month, and possibly a revival of goldmining by a major mining company at the original Port Phillip mine site - it's common knowledge that more gold was left in the ground than was ever taken out."